Thursday, March 31, 2016

Last week I was thinking about how much creating I do for custom orders or for volunteer jobs. I spend a lot of creative energy on people outside of my family and so I suggested to David that it would nice to spend some creative energy on the littles. I had some ideas brewing and when he gave me the thumbs up, I went into full design mode. We settled on a gallery wall for each room plus curtains, hooks for their towels, shelves for each bedside and an art hanger for each little. I made a list of elements I wanted to include in each room.

something sewn/fabric element

woodcut element

string art

monograms

photograph

printable art/quote

scripture verse

Then I narrowed down to specifics as to what that looked like. So for the girls' room it ended up like:

David shopped, cut and stained wood during the daytime. He was in charge of the woodcuts, string art, shelves, towel hooks and art hangers. I painted the clothes pins (for the art hangers) and the frames plus rough cut out the fabric elements during the day. The rest of the projects were done in the evenings after the littles went to bed. That meant late bleary eyed nights, but I'm really happy with the results. Last night I planned the gallery walls, but putting them on the floor. I took pictures to give to David for hanging and while I took the children out on a playdate, David re-arranged the girls' room and hung all the elements we crafted. What a thrill it was to reveal it all to the littles!

The deer head was made from a pattern found here. I found the wood plaque at the thrift store and a with a bit of paint it made a great mount.

David cut this based on a few pictures I showed him on Pinterest. I didn't want to tell him exactly what to make, but I knew I wanted an arrow. It turned out great. His favourite piece.

Again, I asked for the sword, but I left David to do the style he wanted. He found a sword image on google, added a cross in the middle and enlarged it to make the template. Screws were an easier choice and he just went with it. I like it a lot!

The monogram "M"s I printed out on the computer, taped to foam board and cut out. I painted them and that's it! Super easy and a great and cheap monogram! We enlarged a photograph from our last family pictures in 2014. The same picture for both bedrooms.

I thrifted and painted this cute frame and got the printable from here.

Here's Malachi's art hanger in action (sorry for the dark picture). Just clothespins painted and glued to a board. Each little has one, though we haven't hung Hannah's yet. We are saving it until she is a bit older.

Michaels had these cutlery clothespins in a bin and I simply glued them onto this little board, also from Michaels. Cheap and funny, considering the boys are always thinking about food. This wasn't planned for, but added on a whim.

I found this wood pineapple at the thrift store. It was varnished and worn, but I saw its potential and snapped it up. I painted it and glued an oversized clothespin on it and it's adorable! My favourite piece in the girls' room!

David did the crown the same way as the sword and he did a great job!

The girls' monograms were done the same as the boys. I found the birdhouse and bird at Michaels and threw it in.

The kite I made up as I went. I drew a pattern and did a basic quilting pattern on it. Then simply tied jersey bows onto a ribbon tail.

Each little got a shelf on their bed. They all needed a place to put water bottles and treasures etc. Here's Abby's in action. David made simply with two boards, painted white and attached right to the bed frames.

David made this based on a picture I showed him. Abby thinks it looks like a minecraft heart.

I used flat sheets from two of the littles' bed sets to make quick curtains. Not too difficult as I cut them in half, finished the two cut edges and voila! Curtains! I hate sewing curtains, but this wasn't too bad. We are exhausted, but happy with the results!

Why are you angry, Mr Turtle?

We have a hand painted planter that was given to us as a wedding present. David and I dubbed it the angry turtle, because he does look angry. Yet, the funny thing is, his angry-ness makes me laugh. So, I thought I would share my laughter and joy with you here at The Angry Turtle.
Thanks for visiting and don't forget to say 'hello'.